The grim contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was laid bare for CNN viewers by Van Jones after he checked out the mood at the Republican National Convention ahead of his candidate’s speech tonight.
The progressive commentator grimly summed up the gap between the candidates’ positions as Trump prepared for a rapturous reception and Biden holed up in Delaware to nurse his COVID-19.
“A bullet couldn’t stop Trump. A virus simply stopped Biden,” said Barack Obama’s former adviser.
‘Candidates in this party are getting their asses kissed, and Biden is getting his ass kicked by his own party.
“Democrats are disintegrating, Republicans are uniting.”
Van Jones painted a stark contrast between Trump and Biden for CNN viewers
The former president received another enthusiastic reception from delegates Thursday ahead of his keynote address at the RNC convention, just five days after he was shot.
Obama himself has become the most senior Democrat to sound cool on the president’s re-election prospects, suggesting his chances have diminished considerably.
Biden’s former boss called for calm following his vice president’s disastrous performance in the debate against Donald Trump last month, insisting that “bad debate nights happen.”
But he now wants Biden to seriously reconsider his decision to move forward, the Washington Post reported Thursday, amid Democratic fears it could cost the party both the House and Senate in November’s general election.
Obama’s take on the state of the race comes after Axios reported that Democratic sources believe calls to drop out of the race from party leaders and friends will push Biden to make a decision to step aside as early as this weekend.
“It seems more real than ever,” a senior House Democratic official told DailyMail.com. Another senior Hill Democratic official told DailyMail.com that there is a “very good” chance Biden will end the mandate, but that the timing is “fluid.”
Private conversations he has had with top Democrats in Congress have begun to leak this week, with reports saying that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries have all told Biden some hard truths.
The official line remains that top Democrats did not pressure the president to resign and that Biden is “not wavering at all.”
“The president has made his decision,” deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said at an event Thursday on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
President Joe Biden returned to Delaware on Air Force One to recover from COVID on Wednesday night amid claims from Democrats that they could drop out of the presidential race as early as this weekend.
The president was diagnosed with his third bout of Covid during a campaign trip to Nevada
An Obama spokesman declined to comment to the Washington Post.
The stress of holding the line while Biden remains in the race has begun to be felt by some progressive commentators, with MSNBC’s Joy Reid accused of “next-level desperation” after suggesting Joe Biden’s brush with Covid is as admirable as Donald Trump’s defiance in the face of an assassin’s bullet.
The liberal host seemed dismayed by the contrast drawn by RNC delegates between the president’s frailty and his rival’s vigorous response to being shot.
“If (Biden) is fine in a couple of days, doesn’t that convey exactly the same thing?” he asked.
The answer appeared to be a resounding no from many on social media, where Reid was ridiculed for his “mental gymnastics.”
“Wow… that’s what success is all about,” wrote one.
“Trump took a bullet and Biden caught a cold,” another added.
A poll released by Emerson on Thursday shows Trump leading by between three and 10 points in each of the seven key swing states.
And Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin has become the latest of more than 20 Democratic lawmakers to publicly urge Biden to step aside.
Raskin used the example of Boston Red Sox pitcher Pedro Martinez, the pitcher who was left on the mound during the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series despite being tired.
“There is no shame in bowing to the crowd’s overwhelming appreciation when your arm is tired, and there is real danger to the team if you ignore the statistics,” Raskin wrote in a letter seen by the NYT.
Joy Reid was widely ridiculed on Wednesday after suggesting that Joe Biden’s brush with Covid was as admirable as Donald Trump’s defiance of an assassin’s bullet.
She appeared furious that Donald Trump was allowed to show his defiance to fans after being shot in the head at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night.
‘Your situation is complicated because you are our star pitcher and our manager. But in a democracy, as you have shown us more than any previous president, you are not a manager acting alone; you are co-manager with our great team and our great people.
‘Mr President, meet with the team. Listen to them. You will make the right decision.’
The president is scheduled to return to the campaign trail next week after recovering at his Rehoboth Beach home with his wife Jill.
“He is doing some soul searching, I know that for a fact,” one source told Reuters. “He is thinking about this very seriously.”